Supplying power to remote locations, such as an offshore platform, is costly. While possible, transmitting electricity from land to an offshore platform is costly because of the capital required to transmit electricity over long distances. Transmission to offshore platforms requires new transmission lines and other equipment. Additionally, due to the remote nature of the transmission lines themselves, repairs are difficult. Onsite methods of power generation are generally not a better option due to the need to minimize the footprint of the equipment, the footprint being the area measured on the ground that the equipment requires. A smaller footprint often means reduced electricity capability.
Solar power provides an alternative method for powering remote systems. Solar power systems have increased in efficiency and can be precisely engineered to provide the needed power output without producing excess capacity.
Conventional solar power systems include concentrating solar power systems and photovoltaic systems. Concentrating solar power systems focus sunlight using mirror arrays to heat a fluid. The heat in the fluid is converted to electricity, for example by a steam turbine. Such systems make it possible to generate up to 300 MW or more of electricity. Electricity generation on this scale requires a large footprint for the mirror array. With the exception of the dish systems, most mirror arrays of concentrating solar power systems are spread over many acres.
One dish system produces less electricity than other concentrating solar power systems, even as little as 3 kW. While, multiple dish systems can be incorporated into a solar power plant to generate significant quantities of electricity, the advantage of the dish system is that one system can be used to generate power. An added advantage is that One dish system requires only a fraction of the footprint required by other concentrating solar power systems.
In contrast to concentrating solar power systems, photovoltaic systems create a current directly from sunlight, due to the photovoltaic effect: the excitation of electrons in certain substances creates a current. A photovoltaic system (array), includes a number of modules, each module formed from photovoltaic cells. The size of a photovoltaic system is determined by the amount of electricity desired, each photovoltaic cell generates about 2 W. Photovoltaic cells are ideal for small electronics or those that have minimal power requirements. If electricity needs are greater, photovoltaic systems can be installed, but will require a larger footprint. In addition, photovoltaic cells have relatively low efficiency.
There is a need for a system that has increased efficiency over photovoltaic cells, has a small footprint, and produces a significant amount of power. Such a system would provide electricity with reduced capital and maintenance costs compared to other paths for supplying power to remote locations.